Jye Etheridge ‘worst ever’ but Monarchs stall on wielding axe

DAVID KINVIG

Edinburgh Monarchs speedway bosses have made no final decision over Jye Etheridge’s future with the club despite co-promoter John Campbell claiming the Australian is “one of the worst ever newcomers to the Premier League”.

Etheridge flopped once more against Newcastle Diamonds on Friday scoring a solitary point, yet Monarchs scraped home 46-44 against most people’s expectations.

And the Monarchs gaffer refused to reveal if that was the 21-year old’s last race at Armadale.

Campbell said: “It was another disappointing performance by Jye. You can’t get any lower that’s for sure. We are in a situation this year which is totally different from previous years. Having completed four home and four away meetings Jye is going to get an average now and it’s going to be five when it should be one.

“He really should be at reserve where mentally he would get a boost by being up against poorer riders. That’s not going to happen.”

Asked if the clamour for change has now become irresistable, Campbell replied: “We struggled through against Newcastle and we wouldn’t want to be doing that every week, we were fortunate. We have not decided if there will be a change or not.

“We are not a club who makes threats by saying if you don’t improve you’ll be out. Generally riders know the situation and Jye would have to be very blinkered not to know his position is in doubt, and it can’t go on in that situation.

Campbell added: “Jye is probably one of the worst newcomers in the Premier League. Speedway is a numbers game and he needs to be scoring more.

“We have ten days before our next league fixture to consider what we are going to do. His form in Australia gave him a good chance of doing a job in this country and I’m very disappointed by how poor he has been.”

Campbell insisted due dilligence was undertaken before they offered Etheridge a contract. “We don’t just pick a name out of a hat and gave them a go. We did our research on him and I would have expected him to be scoring points by now. He has the ability.”